Are Austin FC simply a bad team?

Or are Austin FC a formerly bad team who are improving after the arrival of key additions in the recent summer transfer window?

A romp through a group of death in Leagues Cup followed by a rollicking 2-0 victory on the road in Nashville last weekend in which new signing Osman Bukari netted his first Austin FC goal suggested that sunnier days may lie ahead for a team trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the third time in its four-season history. Bukari and fellow newcomer, left-back Mikkel Desler, have injected life into a team that has lacked consistency for much of the season.

Enter Vanni Sartini’s Vancouver Whitecaps: Saturday night’s visitors to Q2 Stadium and a team capable of draining the life out of a previously vibrant attack. For 90-plus minutes, the Whitecaps were like an older brother placing his hand on the head of a younger brother who valiantly but ultimately meekly tires himself out by swinging punches into thin air. Austin FC’s 1-0 defeat was as tepid as it was disappointing – the match’s only goal came via a second-half thunderbolt strike from outside the box by Vancouver midfielder Pedro Vite.

“It’s difficult when you build so much momentum through Leagues Cup and the result last week,” Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver said post-match. “And then we come home and we want to use the energy in our stadium and just have a good advantage to capitalize on that and pick up points at home, and we were unable to do that, so [we’re] extremely disappointed,” he added.

Look, you probably don’t need to be reminded that Austin FC entered Saturday night’s contest dead last in Major League Soccer (MLS) in shots per 90 minutes. The Verde and Black’s paltry 8.92 shots per 90 (per fbref.com) were comfortably over a shot per 90 less than the second most shot-averse team in the league.

However, in matches where Bukari has started and at least played into the second half (i.e. not the Pumas UNAM match where he received a red card in the 34th minute), Austin FC’s shot totals are much healthier: 11 against Charlotte on July 20th, 20 against Los Angeles FC on August 7th, and 15 against Nashville last Saturday. The glass-is-half-full crowd had reason to start puffing their chests out.

But against Vancouver, Austin FC’s attack vanished. Per fotmob.com, the Verde and Black had just six shots worth a scant .59 expected goals (xG). Vancouver are a good defensive team – they’ve allowed the fourth-fewest goals in the Western Conference – and played in a stifling 3-1-4-2 mid-block formation that Austin FC failed to play through.

“A combination of both,” Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff reflected in his post-match press conference when asked if his team’s attacking struggles were down to poor performances from his players or the quality of the opposition’s defense. “It’s a poor performance, but [it’s] a little bit of what Vancouver does because they make it a little bit more challenging in those central areas,” Wolff continued.

For the third consecutive match, Sebastian Driussi started as the team’s striker, flanked on the left by Jon Gallagher and Bukari on the right. Driussi’s interpretation of the striker position is more false nine than traditional nine – he looks to drop into midfield, drag opposition defenders out of position, and create space for Austin FC’s wide forwards to exploit.

Against Nashville, this worked to great effect. Driussi dropped, and Gallagher and Bukari each scored with Gallagher taking four shots and Bukari taking three. On Saturday, Gallagher didn’t take a single shot and Bukari only registered one. If the team’s best goal scorer is going to move into deeper positions in an attempt to unsettle the opposition, Austin FC’s other attackers have to take advantage. Neither Bukari nor Gallagher were able to do so against the Whitecaps.

The defeat to Vancouver and results elsewhere on Saturday night moved Austin FC from ninth to 10th position in the Western Conference – below the playoff line. “I’m more focused on what we do on the field,” Stuver said after the match when asked how much attention he pays to the results of the Western Conference’s other playoff hopefuls.

“I know that some results might go our way. We can get a little bit lucky in those terms, but if we don’t take care of our own business then none of that matters. So for me, all I really care about is what we do. As long as we can take care of what we need to take care of, we’ll be in the playoffs, no worries. I don’t really care what anybody else is doing,” Stuver said.

Austin FC have seven matches remaining to prove they are genuinely an improved team worthy of a spot in the 2024 MLS postseason and that the Vancouver performance was a brief, unfortunate reprisal of a (hopefully) bygone era.

Eric McCoy

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